choices- page 1.

Down the street, the gnarled-finger woman and her wrinkled-ear husband, were having a yard sale. It was a Tuesday afternoon- not Saturday, not Sunday- when the box with the sign was flung over their fence, commencing the sale. This, I had to see.

I arrived to the sale, faking a casual walk around the block. This attempt at ambiguity proved unnecessary. Everyone else had seen the box. We were drawn to it like a flock. It was no coincidence that everyone else in the neighborhood seemed to need a walk around the block too. It was like a migration.

The gnarled-finger woman and her wrinkled-ear husband were sitting in plastic lawn chairs, affixed with price tags. From the buttons of the husbands’ shirt hung a price tag. The bracelet around the wrist of the woman’s gnarled-finger hand had a price tag. She was waving the arm at flies. Neither of them seemed to be aware that there were people in their yard. They didn’t even seem to notice that they were having a sale. Someone broke the ice. We were all waiting for it.

make a choice and continue the story…

1. Jimmy, the kid never before seen with his parents, addressed the wrinkled-ear husband…

or

2. Sheila, the unemployed therapist, leaned over and whispered to the gnarled-finger woman…